P-I-N structures are widely used, for example, in the manufacture of photovoltaic cells. A P-I-N structures generally includes a lightly doped ‘near’ intrinsic semiconductor region (e.g., an i-layer) between a p-type semiconductor region (e.g., a p-layer) and an n-type semiconductor region (e.g., an n-layer).
The inventor has observed that conventional deposition processes utilized to form i-type layers for p-i-n structures typically result in amorphous i-type layers having a high degree of disorder within the amorphous network. The inventor has further observed that when forming photovoltaic (PV) grade amorphous i-type layers for applications such as solar or photovoltaic cells, such disorder within the amorphous network causes increased light induced degradation (LID), thus decreasing the efficiency of the resultant device.
Therefore, the inventor has provided improved methods for forming p-i-n structures useful, for example, in the production of photovoltaic devices.